Hi Aled,
That sounds great if you can get to Barca easily. I'm flying from Newcastle, but I flew from Manchester last time and it was fine.
The hotel in Lake Garda was fine for me, though I know a few people on my tour thought it was a bit out of the way. I was out every day, even on the free day our tour guide arranged for us to go to a local market and a couple of local villages, so I wasn't at the hotel that much through the day. We had our own apartments so you had a bedroom, bathroom, sitting room and kitchenette each and it was ultra modern, and most importantly for me, it was clean, so it wasn't a problem. Just depends on what you're expecting really. I wouldn't let it put you off going to Lake Garda though.
Caroline